2016

2016 is the 2,016th year of the Common Era and the 16th year of the 21st century, beginning on 1 January 2016 and ending on 31 December 2016. The year was infamous for being a year of several horrible and shocking events, a feeling expressed by many in the media and online.

Events

 * Execution of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi Arabia on 3 January 2016; Iran ceases to hold diplomatic relations with the Sunni kingdom.
 * Iran ended its nuclear program, allowing for sanctions to be lifted on 16 January.
 * The Zika virus broke out on 28 January, spreading throughout South America and the Caribbean; some cases were reported in Southeast Asia.
 * The Islamic State opens the year with the deadly 2016 Brussels bombings on 22 March, killing 32 people.
 * On 2 April 2016, the armies of Azerbaijan and Armenia fight against each other during the Four-Day War, leaving as many as 1,820 soldiers dead.
 * On 3 April, the "Panama Papers" are released, identifying 214,000 offshore companies and millions of their customers, including notable politicians and celebrities.
 * On 23 June, the United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union in the "Brexit" vote, with the UK Independence Party, Britain First, some far-left members of the UK Labor Party, and some far-right members of the UK Conservative Party supporting the referendum. This causes renewed interest in independence for the people of Scotland, who begin to issue their own passports in November 2016.
 * On 28 June, IS hits the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, killing 45 people.
 * On 30 June, Rodrigo Duterte is elected President of the Philippines. The former Davao City mayor encourages vigilante killings targeting suspected drug pushers and drug users, and he lists several of his political opponents as leaders of the drug trade in his "drug matrix". Nearly 5,000 people are dead by November, killed by the police or by vigilantes.
 * On 12 July, the Philippines wins an international lawsuit against China, proving that China's "Nine-Dash Line" has no historical basis and does not define its maritime borders.
 * On 15 July, General Akin Ozturk and the armed forces of Turkey attempt to stage a coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is known for corruption. The coup is put down with 350 deaths, and Erdogan assumes dictatorial powers, cracking down on the press, detaining 15,846 people who were believed to be involved in the coup, and suspending 48,222 government officials and workers. These purges lead to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) ruling something close to a one-party state.
 * From 5 to 21 August 2016, the Summer Olympics are held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During the Olympics, American athlete Ryan Lochte becomes infamous for trashing the back of a Brazilian gas station with two other men before claiming that they were robbed by criminals dressed as policemen. It turns out that the "criminals" were actually policemen, and that the athletes were at fault due to damaging property.
 * On 31 August, Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is impeached, and her vice-president Michel Temer becomes acting president.
 * On 9 September, North Korea carries out its largest nuclear test yet, met with condemnation from the rest of the world.
 * Throughout October, several scandals related to the United States presidential election are revealed. On 7 October, an Access Hollywood video of US Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump bragging about groping and kissing women without their consent is released, including his infamous line "grab 'em by the pussy." That same day, Wikileaks releases emails from US Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton's chairman Juan Podesta concerning donations from foreign interests and Donna Brazile's sharing of secret debate questions with Clinton. On 17 October, a former Clinton aide was reported to have confessed to inciting violence at Trump rallies, a claim that was immediately denied by the Clinton campaign.
 * On 2 October, the people of Colombia reject a ceasefire deal between the government and the communist FARC rebels, leading to the continuation of the conflict.
 * On 13 October, the Maldives withdraw from the Commonwealth of Nations.
 * On 17 October, Iraqi government and Kurdish Peshmerga forces begin an offensive to retake the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State, which had declared Mosul its capital in July 2016. IS puts up heavy resistance, burning oil in trenches to reduce visibility for Coalition aircraft, laying mines, setting up sniping positions, and executing hundreds of civilians. They also send suicide bombers to attack Kirkuk, and they reoccupy ar-Rutbah in the western desert.
 * On 26 October, authorities from France clear out the "Calais Jungle" refugee camp, evacuating 6,400 refugees on buses and resettling them in different regions of the country.
 * On 8 November 2016, Donald Trump and the US Republican Party win the presidential election with 306 electoral votes, although he loses the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 1,392,640 people. As a result of the election of the most controversial and hated president in American history, hundreds of thousands of people protest in major cities across the country. In the days following the election, Trump nominates several far-right Republicans to cabinet positions, such as making RNC chairman Reince Priebus his Chief-of-Staff and Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions his Attorney-General; he also nominates the racist Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon as his personal adviser.